Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

Chapter 281: Mythical Frost Demon

Inside one of Azog Ice Town inns, Darcel, Aniela and Masami were now recuperating in their room. The trio huddled around the map Siren Blade gave them, their eyes analyzing every single detail.

Some time has passed since the trio left the Siren Blood Mage group. And during this time, they had been gathering the necessary materials for another long-haul trip. 

Even though neither Darcel, Aniela, or Masami had ever gone out of their ways to make money, their wealth from their foes' previous Spatial Rings more than make up for it. 

As of now, silence permeated between the trio. Each of them was stewing on their own thoughts while studying Siren Blade's map.

After a short while of contemplation, Aniela's calm expression slightly changed. She scrunched her eyebrows and broke the contemplating silence, saying out loud, 

"This Frozen Prison Domain.it's quite far away from this town. And it's on the borders to New Moon City. But we shouldn't encounter anyone from there. Plus, with our flight speed, we should be able to cross it in a day or two."

At this point, Aniela and the others were entirely sure they had little need for a flying beast mount or any kind of flying tool. 

All three of them had something critical that other cultivators in the Heavenly Transformation don't have.

That is near-endless flying stamina. If they wanted to, Aniela fathoms the three of them could probably travel through the entire Province at their leisure and enter a new Province.

Of course, they couldn't realistically achieve this because of the wild Spirit Monsters and people expanding across each Province. 

But it goes to show how special the trio's flying abilities are.

"You know, I never even heard of this place before. And that mage barely gave us any information. And this damn town was barely more helpful than him." Masami took the chance to speak up next. 

Her two fox tails puffed in frustration over remembering how much of a hassle it was just to get basic information. 

Since they were in the Mage district part of Azog Ice Town, the people's attitude here was incredibly off-putting. And it didn't take the trio to be a genius to guess why. 

Still, looking past people's standoffish attitudes, Darcel could say they found decent enough information on the Frozen Prison Domain. Admittedly, this place has an interesting history he would be willing to explore if he had the time. 

The Frozen Prison Domain is one of the few special areas outside the massively expansive Plunged Tundra. It's regarded as unique since it has a long-running history spanning at least hundreds of years. 

Way before Darcel, Aniela, and Masami's time, the Icy Cloud Province was under terror from a mythical, powerful creature.

This creature was officially named the Frost Demon. 

From various descriptions and arts, this Frost Demon apparently was a tall creature that almost resembled a human but also had beastly traits.

Furthermore, the Frost Demon also patches of crystal ice donning its body and supposedly had a layer of Frost air continually surrounding it. Frost air was just one of the demon's many strange abilities that cultivators and Mages alike couldn't understand.

It was said that any Heavenly Transformation cultivator or Spirit Mage that were to come in slight contact with that Frost Air would be poison by a stream of freezing Ice Energy. 

From inside their bodies, a layer of ice would freeze all of their organs, essentially killing them in just one move. 

The Frost Demon not only held this terrifying power but also other powerful Ice abilities that could kill Heavenly Sages, Grand Mages, or even Emperor Origin cultivators!

With that kind of power within its body, the Frost Demon carried on with its own agenda. It didn't matter where it would go within the Icy Cloud Province; the demon would destroy any major City or town for their treasures.

The treasure it stole didn't even make the Frost Demon stronger. The creature simply stole what it ever could and placed what it has in special storage pouches it also stole.

Of course, with this kind of wild behavior, the Frost Demon earned the ire of numerous powerful organizations.

It had even devolved to a point where these powerful organizations banded together to finish off this treasure stealing Frost Demon for good. Against so many powerful cultivators and Mages, it was impossible for the terrifying Frost Demon to continue its reign.

In the last moment of its life, the Frost Demon fled the pursuit of these powerful organizations, escaping towards a once infamous area in the Plunged Tundra.

The Frost Demon fled right towards an ancient Temple that was known as absolutely impossible to enter into. 

Nobody was really sure of this ancient Temple's origin, but it didn't stop them from trying to explore it. However, it was quickly known that it was simply impossible to get into this ancient Temple.

Many powerful cultivators and Mages attempted to break into the Temple. But, not even Emperor Origin Realm powerhouses had the ability to do so. 

And yet, somehow, the mysteriously powerful Frost Demon managed to forcefully break right into this seemingly impenetrable Temple.

And when the powerful cultivators and Mages chased the Frost Demon into the Temple, they all were bewildered by the content inside. 

Unimaginable treasures that arose even Emperor Origin cultivators' interest were littered inside the mysterious Temple. At that time, everyone wanted to fully explore the Temple after finishing off the Frost Demon. 

However, the Frost Demon decided to spend the last moments of its life taking everyone else down with it.

It was said the Frost Demon had one more special ability that allowed its spirit to connect with the massive Temple and caused it to release a powerfully catastrophic explosion!

That explosion managed to kill all Heavenly Transformations, numerous Heavenly Sages, and even a few Emperor Origin cultivators. 

The lucky ones who managed to survive soon died afterward from a mysterious illness that couldn't be cured.

The only ones who survived for a substantial amount of time to pass down this mythical history were several Grand Mages and Royal Mages. 

Although the losses of such powerful people was a tragic event, something fantastic did come out of it.

Because the Frost Demon imploded itself and the Temple, the creature had also let loose all of its treasure that it stole and Temple's treasures. Somehow, that powerful explosion that killed even Emperor Origin cultivators couldn't get rid of Heavenly Treasures.

Furthermore, that explosion also rearranged that landscape's area for thousands of miles, turning it into a colossal ruined ice Temple. 

Initially, everyone was excited to uncover these incredible Heavenly Treasures. But, only a short time after, people almost immediately discover several troubling problems with this area. 

Cultivators and Mages alike were sure the haunting remnant spirit of the Frost Demon still permeated in that area! It was their only explanation for the strange, inexplicable events occurring over there. 

There is an endless supply of strange-looking creatures all over that area. These creatures aren't that powerful, but they are tough to kill and could respawn indefinitely.

Along with infinitely respawning creatures, the Heavenly Treasures in that area would never stay in one spot. Furthermore, the structure of the ruined Temple became confusing to navigate after the Frost Demon's explosion.

Among all of this, it was also said that staying within this ruined ice Temple area for a prolonged period of time would affect anyone with a troubling disease.

Out of the other tales, the troubling disease was more of a rumor than a proven fact. Since it seemed like in this day and age, nobody has gotten sick from staying long in the ruined ice Temple.

At some point in time, people had eventually decided to call this ruined ice Temple area the Frozen Prison Domain because of the Frost Demon haunting, lingering spirit. 

This information is mainly known throughout the Icy Cloud Province. As for higher Provinces, they were aware but stopped paying full attention after a while. 

To this day, nobody knows how the Frost Demon came about, nobody really knows how that once impenetrable Temple was built, nor did anybody know how to get rid of the Frost Demon lingering spirit.

But one thing is for sure when exploring the Frozen Prison Domain, one must have an incredible treasure-finding tool. Or else, they would only end up lost in that confusing ruined temple area.

Despite how special this area seemed to be, Darcel's group was able to find out all of this knowledge from the local information center within this Mage district. 

Rummaging on everything he learned, Darcel decided to ask the girls, "Aniela, Masami. You two are feeling fine with this option now, right? If you have any worries, you should say it now since there's no turning back after this." 

Only a slight look of contemplation crossed Aniela and Masami's face.

Both girls only needed a few moments to stew over their feelings before eventually sighing, shaking their heads as if they had no disagreement. 

"No.we're fine with this option. After all, like you said, we have no other options left, right?" 

Aniela had a soft smile in acceptance, though Darcel could still see the trace of worries in her and Masami's eyes. 

Wanting to further ease their worries, Darcel told the girls, "Yea, this is a risk but a risk we need to take. From what we see and experience, Magic is assuredly powerful and holds so many complex abilities that would majorly help us. This will also give us a stable foothold to safely cultivate."

"Haaah, yea, yea, you're always right, Darcel." 

Masami lightly sighed before her expression quickly morphed into pure determination. "Alright! No matter the dangers, we'll plunge right ahead. So, before we leave, let's get our souls to their best state. I could just feel we may have to use it."

Darcel and Aniela wryly smile at just how quickly Masami turns her expression on a dime. Still, they both nodded in agreement since their Darkness Soul link can provide them with a much-needed extra boost of power if they're in a pinch.

They also have their Chaotic Shards nestling inside their Soul's space, but Darcel wasn't entirely sure if it would be a good idea to use without massively improving their base cultivation.

Although, if they do get caught up in an irreversible situation, Darcel won't hesitate to use the Chaotic Shard. 

"We'll go at it for a few hours, then we'll leave, ok?" Darcel was already adjusting his seat on the floor for their soul cultivation.

"Mnh." Aniela and Masami nodded in agreement, quickly joining him on the floor. 

And in just a few short moments, Darcel, Aniela, and Masami had their eyes closed, beginning the process to adjust their Darkness Soul link to its best condition.